Coming Corel suite builds on solid core
Real-life requirements: Corel Corp. has not shipped a new office suite for a couple of years, so the buzz is high about the imminent release of WordPerfect Office 2000. I tried out the second beta version. Corel representatives as-sured me most of the features are final and little will change be-tween now and the product's release.
Real-life requirements:
Corel Corp. has not shipped a new office suite for a couple of years, so the buzz is
high about the imminent release of WordPerfect Office 2000.
I tried out the second beta version. Corel representatives as-sured me most of the
features are final and little will change be-tween now and the products release.
Corel has put a lot of software into a small package. The entire suite takes up a
little more than 250M. That includes a word processor, presentation program, spreadsheet,
relational database manager and supporting applications.
I have been using WordPerfect 8 word processor practically since the day it came out,
and WordPerfect 9 looks and acts much the same. Thankfully, it is compatible with all
preceding versions for Microsoft Windows. You can load an old WordPerfect document into
Version 9, or save a document in Version 9 and load it on another PC running Version 6 or
7.
You can even save in the old Version 5 format, although that requires a selection from
the Save menu.
Additional Save formats include plain text and Hypertext Markup Language.
The word processor acts as a pretty good HTML editor, much like Microsoft Notepad but
with nice extras such as a spell-checker. You can change the view to a Web page look,
which is extremely useful for Web design. Documents saved as straight HTML have no
bulky hidden codes except for the metatag Generator = Corel WordPerfect 9.
I was pleased that Corel has continued support for the Reveal Codes function. Turning
it on shows text formattinga huge help when highlights stubbornly appear in the
wrong places.
A split window at the bottom of the screen reveals the codes. As you change them in the
window, they also change in your document. No other word processor that I have used gives
the user so much control.
The suites Quattro Pro 9 spreadsheet application differs hardly at all from
previous incarnations. Again, the emphasis is on Web use. Databases, forms, lists, charts
and reports can all be saved in HTML for uploading to the Web or opening with a browser.
The suites CorelCentral 9 personal information manager and scheduling program
seems intrusive. Im old-fashioned; I prefer tracking my appointments with pencil and
paper. The PIMs scheduling interface got in my way. But if you rely on an electronic
device to chart your time, CorelCentral 9 is efficient enough to serve that purpose.
The best support program was Ask the PerfectExpert, one of the best help programs
Ive seen in a suite. You type questions in plain language and get intelligent
answers. For example, How do I create a resume with this software? resulted in
not just an answer but a step-by-step walk-through.
I found Corel Presentations 9, which finally seems to be on par with Microsoft
PowerPoint, a stronger suite component than the PIM. The slide show tool was easy to use,
and I could design presentations almost from the get-go.
Taken as a whole, this near-final version of WordPerfect Office 2000 has
well-integrated old favorites enhanced by new work-to-Web interfaces. The suite will
likely become a welcome addition to many government desktop PCs.